Means for transferring objects to hook-type conveyers



F. R. COLBY ET AL MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING OBJECTS T0 HQOK TYPE CQONVEYERS April 1; 1930.

Filed Sept. 12, 1928 WWW Tam 1 r Nww [RM 3% VI Q B E a R 4 km 3 Q N & NN w ATTORNEY 6 wire is first suitably hung on the end of a Patented'Apn- 1, 1 930 I UNITED STATES PATENT 0mm F-REDEBIC R. COLBY AND ARNOLD L. LARSEN, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE SURFACE COMBUSTION COMPANY, INC., 0]? TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK MEANS FOR TBANSFERRING OBJECTS TO HOOK-TYPE OONVE'YERS Application filed'septeinber 12', 1928.. Serial No. 305,458.

caused'to travel lengthwise of the slot 14 by i This invention relates to improvements in means for transferrlng ob ects from one support to another and more particularly for I transferring coils of wire from a temporary carrier to a travelling conveyer as, for eX- ample, a furnace conveyer. v

It is an object of the invention lBOPIOVldQ means for transferring coils of wire to hooks forming part of'a conveyer-from a suspended.

position on a carrier which is movable toward and away from the conveyer.

In accordance with this invention, a coil of swingable carrier or beam and the beam manipulated in a manner to transfer the coil to a 00k whichforms part of a conveyer element. The invention has been particularly application to designed for loading coils of wire on an endless conveyer travelling along the roofof a heat-treating furnace but is not limited in its such use.

Referring tothe drawing wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown: r

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of a tunnel like heat-treating: furnace havlng a conveyer operating through the roof thereof and the wire coil transferring means constructed in k accordance with the present invention in position for transferring a coil ,of wire to the i I a depressed seat 48, the seat being adapted to conveyer hook;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig, 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the hangeror ordinarily-be carried in order topermitthe coil to be hung on the carrier and transferred 7 therefrom to the conveyer hook.

roof 12.0f the furnace is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 14 through i which extends a series offhooks 16 whichjare secured at their upper ends to a conveyer element 18 whichstraddles the top of the slot 14 and whichis provided with rollers 20 for travellingin a. track 22 on each side of the slot The conveyer element. and its Hooks 16 together form a travelling conveyer which is saddle on which the wire coil. will 7 any suitable driving means, not shown.

In one of the side walls of the furnace is a vertical slot 24 of a width suitable for its intended purpose,fna'mely, to permit a temporary coil supporting-carrier or beam 26 to pass through the slot with a coil. of wire W s'uitably supported at the end thereof. The beam 26 has projecting upwardly therefrom a post 28, the upper end of which is ivotally secured asat 30 to the upper end o a pedestal orlink 32 whichis pivoted at its lower end as at 34 to the metal framework or buckstays 36, of the furnace. The outer endof the beam 26 is slotted as at .38 and prqecting throu h ,this slot is a pin or rod 40 'which is carried %y the uprightsupport generally indicatedat42. p

It will now be seen that the beam 26 is capable of movement toward and fromthe conveyer hook 16, the outer end of the beam having a sliding motion with respect to its supporting pin 40 and the other end of thebeam travelv ling in an arcuate path. I

' At the inner or coil supporting end of the beam 26' is a transversely extending shaft 44 (see Fig. 2) at the extremities of which are fixedly secured a pair of elbow levers gener-' ally indicated at 46. The upwardly projecting end of theelbow levers is provided with receive the opposite end of a shaft 50 which projects through a jaw .52 of awirejsupport ing saddle generally indicated at 54. This saddle may, for convenience of description,

also be termed an object supporting member. The laterally, extending arms 56 of the in a slot 60: VYhen the latch 58 is pushed for- ,wardly the elbow leversare locked againstv rotation. Suitably secured tothe latch bar 58 is an operating rod 62 which extends.

lengthwise of the beam 26.and which at its outer end is secured to a depending operating .lever'64 suitably pivotedto the beam. It will :now be seen that the-elbow levers constitute tiltable means on which the saddle or object supportingmember may berelasably supported. t v f be readily understood. In the operation of placing a wire coil W on the saddle 54, the saddle supporting end of the beam 26 will, of

course be outside of the furnace. The shaft 50 of t e saddle will be positioned on the upper ends of the elbow levers 46, the latch 58 holding the levers against rotation, and the i coil of wire then hung on the hooks or arms 66 of the saddle. When the coil is supported on the beam as aforesaid, the beam is moved into the furnace through the slot 24 in the side thereof and when a conveyer hook 16 is in line with the space 51 between the jaws 52 of the saddle 54, the latch 58 is Withdrawn from the elbow lever arms 56 whereupon the elbow levers'will rotate by reason of the load thereon and transfer the saddle to the hook 16, the

latter engaging underthe shaft 50 between the saddle jaws 52, as will now be readily understood.

In order to prevent the hook 16 from swinging in a direction away from the adjacent end of the beam 26, during the coil transferring operation there is provided in the roof of the furnace an abutment rail 68 which extends in parallelism with the slot 14 in the roof, the back of the hook being adapted to abut against the rail 68. That portion of the roof in frontof the hook is preferably in u wardly step relation with respect to the a utment rail 68 in order to provide proper clearance forthe free operation of the coil shifting mechanism..

Anysuitable means 'may be provided for moving the beam 26 on its supports without departing-from the spirit of the invention thus far described. However, the beam moving mechanism now to be described'is preferred. ,Suitably supported above the top of the furnace as on an upright support'7O is I an electric hoist 72 of any suitable or preferred type. Individually operable hoist controlling elements extend from the hoist to a convenient position near the beam 26, these elements terminating in operating handles 74 and 76; The hoist has a winding drum 7 8 from which extends a cable 80, this cable passing under a roller 82 mounted on the support 70, over and under a roller whose axis is concentric with the pivot 30 between the upstanding link 32 and the upstanding post 28 on the beam 26, the cable being finally anchored as at 84 to the upright support 70.

Assuming that the beam 26 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and that it is desired to withdraw the beam fromthe furnace, the operator pulls down onfthe controlling handle 76 whereupon the electric hoist allows the cable 80- to unwind and consequently allows the beam 26 to pass out of the furnace. When .it is desired to insert the loaded beam into the furnace, the operator pulls on the controlling handle 74 whereupon the hoist is actuated to wind up on the cable 80 and consequently to move the beam into, the furnace. Certain well known mechanism not necessary to be described determines the number of revolutions which the hoist drum 78 will make on any given actuation of the hoist.

In order to cushion the beam 26 as it moves into the furnace, there is mounted on a trans versally extending support 86 above the furnace an elbow lever 88, the lower arm of ,which has a lateral extension 89 which projects into the path of the beam supportin link 32. Anchored to the support 86 an passing through the upper armof the elbow lever 88 is a rod 90 and between the upper end of the rod 90 and the lever arm through which it passes is acoiled spring 92. This spring serves to cushion the final inward movement of the link 32 as will now be readily understood; This cushioning device also serves to initiate outward movement of the beam 26 when the electric hois't 72 is actuated to allow the beam to pass out of the furnace.

In order to provide proper light conditions so that the operator may clearly see when a conveyer hook 16 is inproper position to receive the saddle 54, there is provided in the remote wall of the furnace an. electric light 94.

The present invention is particularly well adapted for use with wire annealing furnaces and offers a simple and practical means for loading wire coils on an overhead type of furnace cohveyer. The invention is particularly well adapted with furnaces of the type shown in Patent 1,674,407.

What is dlaimed is a 1. The combination with a travelling con- ;veyer and an object-supporting member adapted to be removably'suspended thereon, ,of 'a carrier for said member movable toward and away from said conveyor, shiftable means carried by said carrier and adapted to releasably support saidmember, and means for releasing said means whereby said member maybe shifted from the carrier to the conveyer.

2. The combination with a travelling conveyer and an object-supporting. member adapted to be removably suspended thereon,

3. The combination with a travelling confveyer and an object-supporting member adapted to be removably suspended) thereon, of a carrier for said member movable toward and away from said. conveyenan upi adapted to support said member, and means for releasing said arm to permit it to swing toward the conveyer whereby said member may be shifted from the carrier to the conveyer.

4:. In combination, a beam supported for movement in a vertical plane,- an upright arm pivoted at one end of the beam, the upper free end of said arm being adapted to support an object when the arm is in upright position, a conveyor having hooks arranged for travelling past, said arm, and means for releasing said arm whereby it may swing toward a conveyer hook as it passes the arm.

5. In-combination, a beam supported for movement in a vertical plane, an upright arm pivoted on a transverse axis at its lower end to said beam, a conveyer having a series of hooks arranged for travelling in a path below the upper end of said arm, and means for releasing said arm whereby it may swing toward a conveyer hook, the top of the arm being adapted to support an object when in upright position.

6- In combination, a beam supported for movement in a vertical plane, an upright arm pivoted on the beam for movement in a vertical plane, the upper end of the arm being 3 adapted to support an object, an

' object-supporting conveyer element movable past the arm means for releasing the arm for swinging in a path adjacent said arm and below the below'the; top thereof, and

movement toward the path ofithe conveyer element. I

7. In combination, a beam supported for movement in a vertical plane, an arm pivoted on the beam for swinging movement in a vertical plane, means for releasably'holding the arm in upright position, the upper end of saidarm'being adapted to support an object when the arm is in upright position, and a travelling object-receiving element movable top thereof whereby when the arm is released theobject carried thereby may be deposited onsaid element.

8' In combination, a beam supported for movement in a vertical plane, an objectsupporting member supported by the beam and movable in an arcuate path in a vertical plane, a"travelling. object-supporting means movable in a path which will intersect the arcuate. path of said means, and means for releasing said member for movement wherebyan object carried by said member maybe transferred to said object-supporting means.

9'. In combination, a pedestal pivoted at its-lower end, a beam pivotally supported by the upper end of the pedestal, movable means supported at one end of the? beam for releasably supporting an obj eet, a travelling object-supporting; element movable in a path below the object-supporting point'of said means and in a plane close enough to said means to intersect its path of movement, means for releasing said means whereby the latter may transfer an object to said element, and power operated means operatively connected to said beam for moving it toward and" from said object-supporting element.

10.; In combination, means forming a chamber having anopening through a side wall thereof, a pivoted pedestal in front of saidopening, a beam pivotally hung from said pedestal and projectable into the chamher through said opening, an object-conveying mechanism movable in a path below the roof of and in' a plane extending lengthwise of the chamber, means supported by the beam for transferring an object carried thereby to said mechanism, power-operated means for tween said element and vthe free end of the beam for supporting said free endof the beam for movement in an arcuate path in a vertical plane, said means including an upright link, means for positively moving the link in one direction, means for cushioning the final movement of the link in said one direction, means carried by the free end of the beam 'for releasably supporting an object, a travelling conveyer movable in a path in front of the free end of the beam and in' relatively close proximity thereto, and means operable from a point remote from said free end of the beam for releasing said object supporting means carried by said beam:

12. In combination, a furnace provided with an overhead conveyer adapted to convey.

annular objects in suspended position through the furnace, a member adapted to support the object and be coupled to the conveyer,

a carrier on which said member may be hung prior to transfer to the conveyor, said carrier beingmovable'into position adjacent the conveyer, and means on aid carrier for extending its effective lengt into the path of theconveyer whereby said member may be transferred to the conveyer.

13. In combination, a furnace provided with an overhead conveyer, having-hooks depending through a slot in the furnace roof,

means for depositing objects on the hooks as they pass a given point comprising anelongated carrier on one end of which the object may be temporarily hung, means persaid carrier into relatively close proximity to the conveyer, and means on'the carrier for transferring said object onto a hook of the conveyer.

mitting forward and upward movement of I25 with a slot in its roof, an overhead conveyor having hooks dependin through said slot, means for deposlting o jects on said hooks as the latter:v pass a given point comprising 5 an arm adaptedwhen in upright position to support the object to be transferred, and means permittin said arm to tilt toward said conveyer to shi said object into the path of travelof said hooks. 15. In combination, a furnace provided with a slot in its roof, an overhead conveyer having hooks depending, through said slot, means for depositing objects on' said hooks as the latter pass agiven point comprising an arm adapted when in upright osition to support the object to be trans erred, and means permitting said arm to tilt' toward said conveyer, to shift said object into the path of travel of said hooks, and means pre- 2o venting lateral displacement of the hooks during the transfer of said object from said arm tot-he conveyer.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

- FREDERIC R. COLBY. ARNOLD L. LAB-SEN. 

